You perhaps didn't read the entire piece. The proposal wouldn't affect retail egg prices. You may have missed this:

" The eggs that chicken producers don't need ..........wouldn't be sold to consumers in grocery stores. Instead they would go to makers of food products." Which is a different supply chain.

I read an article not too long ago that said the US has the weakest and most poorly enforced food wholesomeness rules among the world's developed nations. It's why we have much more frequent and serious incidents of food contamination than other countries do. leading to widespread and sometimes serious illnesses. We need more rules and compliance action to ensure better food safety, not the relaxation of existing rules for political reasons that would benefit and only to a very small extent a special interest group.

But if there’s a general egg shortage, if the food industry switched to purchasing eggs from the broiler hens, that would release more eggs from the egg-laying hens into the general supply and prices should drop.

In Australia we have a different issue. Massive flooding in the eastern states has wiped out thousands of egg producers many of which are still underwater, and even when the land is dry, high building prices due to a combination of Covid-induced building supply shortages and the pressure of replacing the hundreds of homes and outbuildings lost in the bushfires in preceding years means that they won’t be rebuilding the sheds any time soon. Plus, once they do, it will be years before flocks can be rebuilt to the pre-flood numbers.

Luckily here in the west there wasn’t any flooding, though the national supermarket chains have shortages because what supply they can get goes to the bigger eastern states market.

I’m especially lucky because I have a friend with a large flock of chickens; she gives me eggs and I give her cake and cookies 😁

It's not true that an egg is an egg is an egg.

The eggs in question are apparently not refrigerated but rather held for some time at an ideal temperature for the growth of bacteria and other pathogens inside. As I understand it, eggs not refrigerated when collected can neither be sold at retail nor used for food processing currently.

I believe animal husbandry laws concerning chickens that produce eggs destined for retail sale are different in addition, along with the previously noted differences in the handling of the eggs.

Chickens, and eggs in particular, are among the most disease contaminated foods in the US. This has been the case for some years and only the power and money of the industry groups has prevented the US from conforming to practices in other countries. We don't need relaxation of any rules concerning poultry products, to potentially make an already terrible situation worse.

Even at the somewhat elevated prices that have prevailed and are easing, eggs remain an economical food source for people of all means.

I am having a hard time understanding why there is an egg shortage, but there seems to be no problem with supplying chicken wings for all the Super Bowl parties. LOL.

" As I understand it, eggs not refrigerated when collected can neither be sold at retail nor used for food processing currently. "

It's an interesting thing about refrigerating eggs, which isn't routinely done in most of the rest of the world - the danger doesn't come from leaving eggs at room temperature after collection, but leaving them at room temperature after they've been cleaned and sanitized (which is required by law in the US for sale of eggs). Cleaning the eggs leaves the shells very vulnerable to being.compromised by the bacteria on the outside of the egg. In a freshly-laid egg, there's a coating that helps protect the contents from the external bacteria. If you had backyard chickens, you could not refrigerate the eggs before using them (but refrigeration will improve their shelf life).

I am having a hard time understanding why there is an egg shortage, but there seems to be no problem with supplying chicken wings for all the Super Bowl parties. LOL.

Chickens for laying and the ones for meat processing are different breeds. Also, egg producers are always females. Male and female chickens are used in meat production.

Didn't you see the LOL? It was a joke.

I did see the LOL. A lot of folks laugh or shake their heads about the situation. No reason to assume it was a joke till you clarified as such.

Chickens grown for meat don't get old enough to lay eggs before they are processed, and beesneeds is correct, they are a different breed.

The article is actually about two different aspects of the chicken industry at odds with each other as the egg producers do not want to contend with competition from the chicken producers. Since the egg products would be pasteurized I dont see an issue safety wise. Certainly the chicken producers are under the same pressures from Avian flu so if in fact that is what is causing egg shortages there would be no difference on impact on the two facets of the industry

" the danger doesn't come from leaving eggs at room temperature after collection, but leaving them at room temperature after they've been cleaned and sanitized (which is required by law in the US for sale of eggs). "

My layman's understanding of the situation is that the problems are exacerbated by the tight confines of small cages that chickens live in. They are spattered with their own excrement. Through this exposure, the chickens themselves and the eggs they lay are inherently more contaminated than if they had more space. Thus:

1)The chickens have internal contamination, and

2) The inside and outside of eggs do too.

The eggs are washed to remove the danger from the filth on the outside of the shells, and the eggs are promptly refrigerated to limit bacterial growth internally.

There are different ways of dealing with the contamination problem. My understanding is that in France, all shell eggs sold must be pasteurized. That checks bacterial growth inside and outside.

Toronto Vet, we can all possibly gain from your knowledge. Any comments?

" 2) The inside and outside of eggs do too. "

That's the wrong point - yes, there's more external contamination from poor husbandry, but not the inside of the freshly laid egg. The cuticle (or "bloom") is the layer of the shell that closes the pores of the shell to keep out external infection. Using a dry wipe to lightly remove dirt or feces should not affect the cuticle (if you have backyard chickens), but the US law requires cleaning and sanitizing of any egg to be sold......that destroys the protective cuticle, and therefore refrigeration is required.

In the EU, for example, Grade A eggs (all retail eggs) must not be cleaned, preserved, or refrigerated (below 5C) before purchase. Grade B eggs are used in food production, not retail sales. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/rules-on-marketing-standards-for-eggs.html

Certainly the chicken producers are under the same pressures from Avian flu so if in fact that is what is causing egg shortages there would be no difference on impact on the two facets of the industry

That is what one would think but, from what I have read, 'chicken producers'--the broiler side of chicken production--has not. Because the life of a meat chicken is measured in days. It takes about 45 days to produce a table chicken. So less opportunity for exposure to the avian virus in their short lives.

Otherwise, I agree with you that the egg producers are trying to protect their turf by objecting to the use of eggs produced as a byproduct of the broiler/ meat industry.

Of course, there is also the vaccination option but that takes us into yet another area of trade protection.

EU regulations prohibit washing production eggs because they say it damages the outside layer of the egg cuticle, also known as a bloom. This bloom coating the egg prevents bacteria from entering the egg, Chickens lay eggs and they sit in the nest for a long time until a hen feels there is enough to incubate and becomes broody and the reason for the natural protection of the bloom. This is also why eggs with the bloom can sit on the kitchen counter for weeks without going bad.
United States regulations are completely opposite of EU regulations on egg production. Is this the higher food safety standards someone mentioned here in other countries?

We are so backward in so many ways regarding food production and contamination (and nutrition to some other countries) but, boy, can we believe we are superior in every area!

Perhaps if you realize that our policies are not intended to protect us, the public, but instead a very loud part of the poultry industry??? How does that affect how you think about all our policies?

The fact that that the populace has had to fight for consumer protection when industry failed to provide it, indicates to me that our safety policies oftentimes take a back seat to profits and/or politics.

Folks, let's stop with the Hot Topic discussing before it gets the thread shut down on us.

I think opinions on how well our food supply is monitored isn't a hot topic, it is important information for us and our families.

I don't understand why you all are being charged so much for eggs. I'm looking at a website that shows egg prices in Calgary right now. The best deals. In US$$, Rexall has eggs on sale for $2.46 a dozen. Shoppers Drug Mart: $2.68. 30 eggs for $4.46 at Sobeys. I'll be going to Sobeys as it's the best deal: I need eggs today.

Eggs are a hot topic? Weather balloons to that idea, or the tea in china. Eggs are a food most consume and for a cost now believed to be expensive people can't afford. As a nation with the luxury of spending less of our household income on food than any other nation in the world I would consider eggs to be cheap at $4/doz. We spend slightly less then most of European countries but imagine the idea of spending 40%, 50% and even 60% of your income on food like those living in the Philippines, Kenya or Nigeria. We are truly blessed to have such an efficient and extremely safe food chain in the United Sates and not dependent on imports for survival . This has given us the ability to devote most of our income to many other non productive activities without food as a primary concern, for now.

With the basic resources we have in the United States, with exception of pot ash we import from our good buddies in Canada we're in good shape (Canada the best shape), and nothing like china's reliance on importing food and energy. China would collapse without importing basic resources from other nations, along with many other countries, but we would never collapse without imports from china for anything, which could be eventually source from other countries, just inconvenienced. In fact South America could become a major industrial powerhouse, and IMO will be in the future. China's motives to expand their empire is obvious, and all because an egg, but Russia's motive to expand is still a mystery to me because they have all the basic resources a country needs. Now this is hot.